Vaporizer for anesthetics.



No. 747,364. PATENTEDDEGJZZ, 1903.

G. L. BENNETT. VAPORIZER FOR ANESTHBTIOS,

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 23, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Fatented December 22, 1909.

' PATENT OFFICE.

VAPORIZER FOR AN ES TH ETICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,364, dated December 22, 1903.

Application filed May 23, 1903.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Vaporizing Fluid Anesthetics, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to surgical appliances used in administering anesthetic gases when performing surgical operations; and the objects of my improvement are, first, to provide a way to cause the various fluid anesthetics to vaporize rapidly and mingle with the air in a chamber ready for delivery; second, to enable the surgeon to know the exact quantity of fluid he has vaporized in the chamber and to increase or diminish the strength of vapor by the introduction of pure air, thus reducing the danger attending surgical operations to a minimum; third, when using the old methods of administering anesthetics, large quantities of fluids used are vaporized into the room, detrimental and dangerous to the operator, which is wholly wasted. My device will prevent all wastage and all danger to the operators. In minor operations patients have been rendered unconscious with from twenty to thirty drops of fluid chloroform placed in the vaporizing-chamber, and' the patient recovered consciousness without nausea, which always follows the older processes. I attain these objects by'a mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view showing all parts of the device attached to an ordinary gasometer, which is not a part of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the cylinder, showing the relative positions of the tubes.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout both views.

My device consists of a cylindrical air-tight vaporizing-chamber a, provided with an airtube d, fixed vertically and centrally therein, extending downward. The lower end is provided with a conical-shaped enlargement 0, having numerous small perforations in its bottom. The cone is fixed one inch above the bottom of the cylinder. The upper end of the tube is bent at a right angle and is provided with a cook it, to which a hose 7',

Serial No. 158,530. (No model.)

leading from a gasometer A, is connected. A charging-tube e, having a funnel n and a cock 2' connected to its upper end, is fixed vertically to the inner wall of the cylinder and extends downward to near the 'bottom'of the cylinder at. A discharging-pipe bent at a right angle, having a cock g, fitted for attaching a hose m, is fixed in the top of the cylinder near the circumference with the lower end open within the chamber. The cyl inder is provided with a hinge connection It.

The hot-water pan 1) is made two inches larger in diameter than the vapor-cylinder, having an inwardly-turned flange 0, leaving an opening large enough to receive the lower end of the vapor-cylinder. The cylinder is provided with a circumferential bead p,adapted to rest on the inner edge of the flange, a slip-hinge Z fixed to one side of the hot-water pan. The vapor-cylinder should extend well down into the pan, so that it may be surrounded with hot water. (Shown in Fig. 1.)

To operate my invention, first fill the wa-' ter-pan half full of water heated to a temperature of 110, place it on the hinge fixed to the gasometer, then place the vapor-cylinder in the pan, resting on the bead, connect it with the upper hinge, attach one end of a hose to the air-tube, the other to the gasometer, inflate the bell, then pour the quantity of anesthetic required through the funnel. When it is all in, tugn the cock, then connect a hose with the discharge-pipe leading to a mouthpiece held to the patients face, observing the same precaution and care as is necessary and usual when performing surgical operations.

The hot water will cause a rapid evaporation of the fluids used, it being safer than an open flame in close proximity to such highlyinfiammable gases. The weight of the float; in g bell will cause a flow of air to pass through the air-tube and be discharged over the surface of the heated fluid anesthetic, becoming surcharged with the vapor ready to be deliv-- ered to the patient.

The flow of air may be regulated by reducing the pressure of the bell or by turning it partially off with the cock on the air-tube.

I do not wish'to confine myself to using my device in connection with a gasometer specifically, as it may be used in connection with other means of compressing air, and in some cases with the suction caused by the patient inhaling.

I am aware that vaporizing anesthetic fluids by passing heated compressed air over them is not new. Hence I do not claim the process set forth broadly; but

What I do claim is- The combination in an anestheticvaporizer of the cylinder having a bead circumferentially near the bottom, the air-tube fixed centrally and vertically within said cylinder,said tube provided with means for spreading air 

